What auto focus do you guys use?

ForceGhost

What auto focus do you guys use when shooting on the streets? I dont trust my manual focusing and i dont trust my cameras AI AF. So what point do you guys use? I've tried using centre but that just is a recipe for a boring composition.

MarkR

One trick is to use zone focusing-- this works best with a wider lens that has a greater depth of field.

Check out dofmaster.com for more information. But for example, I have a wide angle lens (28mm equiv.) and I know that at f/4, if I set it to 4meters, then everything between 2 meters and infinity will be in "sharp enough" focus. And that at 2 meters everything between 1.33 meters (a big step and a handshake away) and 4 meters will be in sharp enough focus.

TonyCooper

ForceGhost wrote: »

What auto focus do you guys use when shooting on the streets? I dont trust my manual focusing and i dont trust my cameras AI AF. So what point do you guys use? I've tried using centre but that just is a recipe for a boring composition.

I don't understand the question. Too often, my images are criticized for
not being sharply focused. Whether I set the focus brackets left, right,
or center, it's what I focus on, not which position, that causes misses.
(In combination with the depth-of-field, of course) I do chose "spot" vs
"closest object", though.

If you are talking about framing, centering, holding the shutter half-way
down, and re-framing allows a different framing result.

jww

I have said this before in another thread, but generally I use single spot auto-focusing and move the spot accordingly in relation to the composition and what I am wanting to be in focus. In other words, rarely is it at the center of the frame. fStop is set accordingly to the results I am looking for.

Hope that makes sense! lol

Richard

It depends on what and how I'm shooting. Most of the time, I use center spot focus lock and recompose. When I'm working on something that has a pre-determined background and I'm waiting for a suitable subject to walk into the scene, I select the focus point according to where I want the subject to appear in the frame. When I'm shooting blind from the hip or chest, I just leave it up to the camera, but use a wide angle with a narrow aperture, so focus isn't usually a problem. If I'm shooting in very low light, I often set the focus manually.

YMMV, of course.

Quincy T

I'm very trusting with Servo on the Mark IIn. I move a single focus point to where I want it to be in the frame, and after getting a lot of practice with this, I can do it quickly enough to feel confident about it. I often keep it set slightly to the right, simply because most compositions will favor a left to right "look" in my opinion. At night, I keep it on the center point to take full advantage of 2.8.

My 7D, on the other hand, is a finicky beast. For moving subject matter, I'll typically set it to Zone AF and Servo. This lets it take advantage of several AF points to do its job and usually gives good results. For less active targets, I'm usually pressing the back button rapidly and repeatedly before firing off the shot, which seems to be effective as well.

Overall, I prefer the Mark IIn in any situation that has quickly moving, erratic, or unpredictable lines of movement, as its Servo is spot on...hence its legendary reputation.